My Experience With: Lash Extensions
We remember Stephanie right? Cliff notes version: She was my core teacher, my phase 2 leader, and now that I've graduated from school we're officially friends- which basically mean we get to do all the stuff we've talked about doing through the last year like hanging out and trying new places.
And as a side note, when it comes to cultivating the look that says "Samantha", I only trust 3 people besides myself- Carol (who's offering me a job at her salon, does arguably the best blonde I've ever seen, and has basically done my hair for about 20 years), The Lord Jesus himself (who obviously gave me some pretty good raw material here), and Stephanie (who I think at one point literally said, "Make an appointment with me. Your hair is doing some things."
Stephanie is someone I especially trust strictly on the fact that we speak the same weird buzz word lingo. I maintain as a cosmetologist, when people sit in your chair there are a few buzz words that mean specific things- like "wild", "edgy", or "natural".
So when I tell people I want something "believable" and maybe not necessarily "natural" you can imagine how that can go down sometimes- but Stephanie pretty much gets it every time. It's one step past natural. It's at that point where people look at you and go, "wait... those aren't your actual lashes?"
One of the things Stephanie wanted me to try was lash extensions.
Now, let me tell you about how HORRIBLE my eyes are. At any sign of danger, they water. Whenever the wind is blowing a little too hard, they water. Sometimes when my mascara wand comes too close, they water.
It's a hard life. I know.
So falsies, strip lashes in particular, have always given me a problem. My eyes twitch when I get close and the glue becomes a mess, and strip lashes eventually peel up and poke me in the eyeball- which is why I'm so particular about mascaras, because frankly that is the only time I get nice lashes.
So after a few weeks of talking myself into them, I agreed.
So here's what had happened:
First you lie down under some heavy lights, and then your lash artist or whatever, will cover your bottom lashes with a tape or a sticky pad. IT FEELS SO STRANGE, and immediately my eyes started twitching and watering. (I told you, there's nothing I can do about it.)
Then it's all kind of a blur of poking and prodding for awhile and then suddenly you have lashes.
I'm not kidding, I think it was maybe 20 minutes of actual application, and the whole process was like 45 or so. Half of that time to be honest was Stephanie telling my eyes to knock it off, while she rearranged my eye pads like 100 times. I cry a lot, ok?
My eyelashes did stick together a little bit, but I imagine that's pretty normal and Stephanie took care of that in like a second.
But here's me with no mascara on:
And me with my favorite mascara on for reference. So see, you can tell my lashes are crazy blonde. And even with mascara, they really only reach my crease.
BUT HERE'S THE AFTER:
Like, what! I can't even deal with how good they look. Stephanie says that the placement she chose was to make my eyes look bigger- and I agree completely that that is what happened.
But when I did something retarded and brushed them- and one of the clusters popped off because my eyes water and I am an aggressive brusher... or that's what I'm assuming happened.
However, it popped off exactly in the spot that was rubbing up against my glasses and actually gave me a really doe-eyed look. I ACTUALLY KIND OF LIKED IT. So clearly, I had a lucky accident.
Stephanie is going to make the other side look the same on Sunday, so relax OCD followers. I'm not going to walk around with 2 different sets of lashes forever.
So here's the pro's of the eyelashes:
-They look insanely good. You can opt for something shorter, or thicker, or whatever you like because the lash sets come in all sizes. They have single lashes which are more time consuming but they look very natural, or clusters which add some nutter butter volume. Stephanie did a mix of both which I think looks really great. They kind of look like my lashes with mascara on- but on steroids.
-They can last up to 6 weeks if you take care of them. I just think that's so great. I got them yesterday which means I can rock them up to the new year and look amazing for every single party I go to. That's called value for your buck.
-You don't have to wear mascara. Seriously, none of those false lash pictures involve mascara. They look super good on their own. I've effectively cut anywhere between 3-10 minutes off my makeup time because frankly, I would skip the whole eye and do a bold lip and be out the door.
-They're comfortable to wear. They generally just feel like your lashes. The only difference is you can SEE them. There will be a heavy ring of black haze in your vision- but I don't mind. It makes me feel sexy and powerful.
-The cost. Yes I agree, $75 can be a lot to pop out at once- but a lot of people do special deals (like Stephanie who is doing $45 through the month of December). And frankly, I think $75 is a good price point. I'd rather pay more to have it done right and by someone I trust around an area that's so delicate. And here's the thing, it cuts down on your makeup time and you don't have to blow money on mascaras.
-If you want to change the look, you can. Because these aren't your natural God-given lashes, you can move them around. Did you like a picture of Kim Kardashian's crazy long lashes? Did you prefer Taylor Swift's doe-eyed, heavy lidded look? Do it! Just show your stylist a picture and they can recreate it for you. And the best part is it's just like your hair- once you get tired of it, you can try something else.
Love.
The cons:
-You have to be super careful around them. Your lashes and glue require you to not scrub all crazy at your eyes, or rub them too hard, and you can't get oil around them. Basically you just have to be more mindful that the lashes are there and exist on your face.
-After you get them done, there will be some pokeys from where the lashes were probably trimmed. But once I washed my face, it must have washed them off because I didn't notice anything after.
-It's anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour of someone poking around your eye. Most people can do this fine but if you're an eye-waterer like me, it's going to be difficult.
-You have to get them filled as they eventually come out. This isn't really a necessary thing I guess. Like if you genuinely don't like them, then by all means let them come out. But I really like mine, so every few weeks or so, I'll get them filled again. Really it's just like going to the salon and coloring your roots every few weeks. It's just a maintenance thing. For me it's not a big deal. I go to Stephanie to get my hair done anyway, so it's right there and all in the same place. She could probably do it while my color processes anyway so it wouldn't really take longer either.
Some tips and things to think about:
- Be mindful of the length and size you want- especially if you wear glasses. It's not anything annoying really, I just don't like the feeling of my lashes bending around because they hit my glasses. HOWEVER, it's a super easy fix by either tipping them slightly outward and away from the lens or just doing a different placement so there's more singles as opposed to clusters. It's not a deal breaker. It's not even a big deal.
-Pictures help of course. Your lash artist isn't a mind reader. I got lucky and mine is a good friend of mine, and I just trust her to do what she thinks looks good.
-On that note, give them some wiggle room. Sometimes it's best to just ask the pro what they think would look nice. They're trained to know the face and eye shapes, and they're generally going to know what would make you look stunning.
-Don't rub your eyes all crazy, and don't touch them with oils. If you want them to last for 6 weeks, take care of them.
-Just like any cosmetic change you do, there is a moment where you have to decide on the upkeep. Everywhere I've looked at has a different price for the actual full set of lashes vs just filling in. And sometimes salons offer better prices if you schedule and pay for multiple fills at once- like a bulk deal. It basically promises them consistency and money, and they're promising you that your appointment will always be honored and you're a priority. I actually prefer stuff like this because then I don't have to pay at every single appointment, I can just run in and out when I've got other things to do.
I'll be sure to make another post in a few weeks when they start to come off and when I go get fills.
So far though, I'm pretty hooked on how sick my lashes look.
-SamanthaK
P.S- If you live in my area, you can make appointments with Stephanie at her salon by going through her style seat page. Tell her I sent you, maybe she'll cut me another lash deal.
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